A Rose for Emily: Analysis on the Theme of Psychological Bondage

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A Rose for Emily
Introduction
People tend to behave differently based on certain circumstances in the society. In the story of Miss Emily, “Arose for Emily,” there are various themes and behavior in several circumstance of her life. The story initially commences with the death of Emily. The burial provides the situation of the house Emily lived in, including her servant and her issues with taxes. As the story develops we see how Emily lived in a smelly house to an extent that the official from the city uses lime (Faulkner 4). The story also explains the behaviors of Emily that were greatly influenced by her father who was very strict. He never allowed men to call on Emily. The death of Emily’s father is the main turning point in her life; she becomes more isolated. In the subsequent parts of the story, Emily’s lover is introduced as Homer who came to town for construction purposes. According to gossips in town, Homer was expected to marry her, but this did not happen. Instead, Homer disappears allegedly killed by Emily. The story concludes with the reaction of the town people towards Emily’s death, helping in the development of several themes of the story (Faulkner 4).
Summary
A Rose for Emily is a story about a young woman named Emily Grierson that took place in the early nineties in the Southern part of America, in Mississippi. She grew up during the Civil War with her father who was the only family member she had. Emily’s life is greatly influenced by her father as we can see how he controlled most of what she did. Consequently, when he died, Emily could not accept his death easily because she was fond of her father. As much as Emily Grierson was admired by the community, she was at a loss when it came to dealing with her emotions. Most of her life was private as she lived in seclusion avoiding any interaction with people and also not making any adjustments in her life. Based on this factor, the author described Emily as a fallen monument because the town people had too much expectation on her, owing to her social status, but her actions portrayed the opposite of what the community expected of her (Faulkner 7).
Emily’s actions are different as indicated in the story where some of the dark secrets of death surround her, starting with her father, then her lover, ending with her death. All these deaths are examples of the mystery involved in the story. For example, the mysterious disappearance of Homer, Emily’s lover, and several other actions including her activities prior to the disappearance of her lover are some of the circumstances that could not be explained. One of the most horrible things was her attraction to Homer even though he had died. At the end of the story, the reader realizes the different aspects that can be seen in different stages as the story develops that explain the contrast between societal perspective and what is real (Faulkner 7).
The Theme of Psychological Bondage
The reaction from the town’s people is evidence of how Emily constantly lived in a bondage that she could not get out of. She preferred to stay away from the public, isolating herself from people based on how her father had treated her in the past. The debate and gossip in town are common phenomena in the story as they show how people could just watched from a distance and talked, but were afraid to approach her based upon her psychological reaction to certain circumstances. For example, when her father died, many people expected her to be in grief, but she acted differently and lived in denial for a while (Fitzpatrick 6).
Several days passed by and some couple of ladies came to offer their condolences, but Emily showed no signs of grief. Emily was psychologically affected because she lived in denial by assuming that her father was still alive even after the father had died. Emily was forced to accept her father’s death by the town people who wanted to take action. Eventually, she came to terms that her father had died. These are some of the examples presented in the story to highlight the psychological problems Emily faced and how people thought of her. Her father’s death was the beginning of several psychological struggles for Emily as she never came out of the house. Emily lost interest in several things because it’s the servant who did almost everything from cooking and even gardening. Her father became influential in her life, affecting her upbringing because she could not find any suitable man to marry her assuming that she wanted someone who had her father’s features and could fit in her father’s shoes (Fitzpatrick 11). Looking back at the story, when Emily first met Homer immediately after her father died, the two started seeing each other, but Emily was not happy. She became possessive and always wanted Homer besides her. Homer on the other hand was less interested in marrying Emily as he spent most of the time with his friends. Emily realized this and decided to kill him just to stay with him. Emily’s reaction to rejection is one of the major psychological problems she was struggling with.
Accepting Changes
Emily never liked to make changes as she always feared the unknown. This is seen on several occasions when she refuses to let the personnel from the mayors’ office pin a plate on the house meaning that she never liked the idea of change. When the mayor explains to her about t...